Chapter 10

It had been a month since Hinata started joining them in their training and Ukai found himself learning a lot about the kid.

At first, Ukai thought Hinata wouldn't stick around for long. He thought that when he realised the work of a ball boy was quite boring, he'd quit and go back to hanging out with his friends.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Ukai was really surprised by Hinata's tenacity. Every time they had a practice, he'd always be on time. Sometimes.. he'd be there even before everyone else arrived. Ukai had found him waiting near the entrance of the gym on more than one occasion, but had yet to see Hinata show any annoyance over it. In fact, he couldn't remember having seen Hinata slack off even once.

He diligently filled up the bottles, set up the court, and ran after the balls. If he was asked to do something, he'd do it as fast as he could and without any complains.

Ukai didn't believe middle schoolers used to be that reliable during his time.

At first, Ukai's teammates were really surprised when he brought Hinata along for their training, but after he explained everything to them, and they saw his commitment for themselves.. they quickly warmed up to him.

It didn't even take Hinata three weeks to win over the entire team and start practicing with them. With his bright smiles, endless barrages of excited compliments and near contagious enthusiasm, Ukai was surprised it even took that long.

Another thing Ukai learned was that Hinata's knowledge about volleyball was really solid. On his second day of helping the team, Shimada tried to flex and surprise the kid with his jump floater serves. He was so starved for some praises and positive attention, that he was willing to accept the surprise and praise of a fifteen year old.

Except, while Hinata definitely loved the jump floaters and showered Shimada with praises, there wasn't any surprise evident on his face.

Another incident when Ukai realised Hinata's impressive knowledge about volleyball was when they had a practice match against some of the players from Yukinari's college team. They were playing in a 4v4 format and Ukai had volunteered to sit out. Ukai thought he'd do a good thing by taking the opportunity to teach Hinata a bit about the different plays and tactics used in a match.

When he went to him to do just that, he found that it was quite unnecessary. Hinata was finding and pointing out the different plays and tactics used with little to no effort. The accuracy and details of it left him speechless. He was guessing spike directions and could even tell if there was some problem with the sets. Ukai stepped back, feeling a bit stupid. He realised Hinata must have had a reason for saying he'd be okay with being a ball boy and that he just wanted a chance to watch.

Ukai thought that Hinata was a volleyball fan who diligently studied about the game, but never really got an opportunity to play. He felt bad for him.

It was also the reason why he didn't object when Shimada brought up letting Hinata join in on their trainings. Takinoue called them a softy, but that bastard wasn't any different.

Hinata began training with them and it was then that Ukai learned another important piece of information. Hinata wasn't a Libero!

Hinata had asked Ukai to set for him, and Ukai had set the ball a bit low, as he was trying to be considerate. He hit the ball perfectly, but his face looked like he'd just swallowed something sour. He asked Ukai to set the ball higher.

Ukai did exactly that, but increased the height by just a little. Hinata jumped higher and hit the ball perfectly, but his face was even worse than before.

"Higher?" he couldn't believe he was asking that. By then, everyone had gathered near them to watch the kid spike. They couldn't quite believe it either.

Hinata just nodded and Ukai decided to just give the kid what he wanted. He set the ball high for him, about as high as he'd set for Takinoue. He didn't believed Hinata would be able to hit that set, but at least, he would stop making those faces.

But then... he watched Hinata make his approach with incredible speed and push off the floor with a mild 'bang'. He looked like he was flying and everyone held their breaths. He looked so natural in the air.. it felt like he was born to do this. 'Beautiful' was their unanimous thought. They took the moment to just appreciate the sight.. the shock and suprise hadn't even registered yet.

Hinata then hit the ball hard and a crisp *Baam* was heard throughout the court.. It was as if he was taking out all of his previous frustrations on that one spike. The ball landed squarely at the centre of the court, and ricocheted off the surface to land at the second floor.. on the viewing stands.

The appreciation vanished in a flash, and they got the chills when they witnessed that shot. The shock and suprise all registered in a rush and they were left looking like idiots with their mouths hanging open.

"That felt so good! Thank You" he exclaimed happily and ran off to retrieve the ball.

Ukai could still remember that moment.. it gave him goosebumps whenever he thought of it.

His teammates had then turned to look at him. He knew their question even without them asking and he assured them he knew nothing about it. It was that very day, they all learned that Hinata wasn't just some volleyball enthusiast who never played.. No.. Instead, he was an athletic monster that jumped higher than he had any right to.

They were all talking about it that day, and kept praising him and ruffled his hair every opportunity they got. And although they could see that his game still needed a lot of work, the potential was undeniable, and the rate at which he learned was downright scary.

The last thing was also technically the first thing Ukai noticed about Hinata. It didn't matter if Hinata was a player or a ball boy, his focus was always laser sharp. When he was training, the ball and the opponents never left his focus, and when he was a ball boy, his focus was on every individual on the court.

He was always looking for something to help him improve, and he didn't mind analysing and breaking down all of their styles to the smallest detail in order to search for it.

Ukai felt it was terrifying, when sometimes, those eyes focused on him, and he instinctively knew that everything he did would be observed and analysed. He knew his teammates felt the same.

As enthusiastic and cheerful Hinata usually was, sometimes.. he was downright frightening.